Fig. 3: Cytokine and chemokine expression profiles in H7N9-infected patients in dependency of disease outcome.

a–t Shown are the expression levels of cytokines and chemokines in the sera of H7N9 IAV-infected males (18–49 yrs survival/death: n = 18/15, ≥50 yrs survival/death: n = 27/11) and female patients (18–49 yrs survival/death: n = 4/7, ≥50 yrs survival/death: n = 10/6) who either survived or succumbed to the infection. The measurement was performed using a multiplex immunoassay. Cytokines/chemokines considerably dysregulated in males include: G-CSF (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor; a), GM-CSF (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor; b), IL-8 (interleukin 8; c), IL-10 (interleukin 10; d), IL-15 (interleukin 15; e), MCP-1/CCL2 (monocyte chemoattractant protein 1; f), and TNF-α (tumour necrosis factor alpha; g). The same cytokines and chemokines were not altered in female H7N9 patients between both groups (h–n). Cytokines/chemokines considerably dysregulated in females include: Eotaxin (r), MIP-1β/CCL4 (macrophage inflammatory protein 1 beta; s), and EGF (epidermal growth factor; t). These cytokines were not significantly altered in males between both groups (o–q). Data are presented as Box-and-whisker plots (Tukey). The horizontal line in each box represents the median value. The 25th–75th percentiles represent the endpoints of the box. The whiskers stretch to the lowest and highest values within 1.5 times the interquartile range (IQR) from the 25th–75th percentiles. Dots represent outliers according to Tukey’s definition. Unpaired, two-tailed non-parametric analysis (Mann–Whitney test) was used for comparisons between two groups. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used for comparisons among the three groups. P values were classified into four groups: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001. Source data are provided as a Source data file.